When I said “yes” to the World Race, I was excited to grow in intimacy with Christ, serve people in countries across the world, and share the Gospel. I was not prepared for the multiple curveballs that Christ was fixin’ to throw my way. To be very honest, I would not have believed Him even if He told me.
Curveball #1
During training camp for the World Race in June 2K16, God asked me to be on an all girls team. I was nervous and quite frankly mad about this. I told leadership during team formations that I got along better with guys and I needed to be on a coed team. Did they not hear me? Was I speaking another language? A coed team was my plan, not God’s.
HOME RUN #1
I said, “Yes”. The past 4 months surrounded by the other 6 girls that form team QADASH have been nothing short of a breath of fresh air. My girls have taught me more things than I could have imagined. We have shared plenty of laughs and tears. They’ve shown me through their trust and raw love that it’s possible to have more than just a couple solid girlfriends in your life. These girls have called me higher, encouraged me, while ALWAYS pointing me to the cross. These girls became my family.
Curveball #2
A few short hours after finding out I was on an all girls team, I was asked to be the team leader. At this point I was certain leadership had it wrong and they needed to talk to Jesus about this whole deal again. “Is this a joke, God?” I whispered to Him as I was called into a meeting with all the new team leaders. I didn’t even know there were leadership roles to be had on this crazy 11 month adventure I had signed up for and here I am being asked to be in one. AND for that matter lead an all girls team which, in my eyes, I was nowhere near qualified to do. Women’s ministry? No, thank you, God. I was just going to tell leadership that I couldn’t do it. That was the plan. That was my plan, not God’s.
HOME RUN #2
Leading my girls these past 4 months has been nothing short of a blessing. God has shown me how to relate to women. He has given me words of encouragement for my team and redeemed 2 words for me: “women’s ministry”. I used to think women’s ministry was all about ‘let’s get together and talk about our feelings and hug it out’…something I wasn’t a fan of. Through trusting God to show me how to lead these girls, I’ve learned that women’s ministry is about loving hard and fighting hard. My team and I have become lionesses and princess warriors these past 4 months. Though I was the team leader and had a few extra responsibilities than they did, they led me way more than I feel like I led them.
Curveball #3
The end of month 4 rolled around and with that came two words that I dreaded to utter… “team changes”. I didn’t want to budge from team QADASH. Our squad leaders are 3 incredible people who have done this 11 month journey before and have come back on the mission field for the first 5 months to lead us. When team changes happen, they also raise up 3 new squad leaders amongst our squad to help lead the squad for the remaining 6 months. Teammates would tell me that they thought I was going to be raised up… All I knew was I didn’t want to hear it. In my flesh, I didn’t want that position. Again, my plan, not God’s.
HOME RUN #3
Here I am in the middle of month 5, being trained all month to lead my squad as a squad leader. At first I didn’t feel equipped to do this, but I know that this is where God is calling me. It changes my race for sure… Now, I’m reaching out to my squad first, rather than the people at ministry sites. I was upset about this at first. When I prayed about it, God told me that it didn’t matter if I was caring for a child who was homeless in Thailand or a person on J squad – each and every one are His beloved children.
God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called. So God, I’m down with giving you my, “yes”. I’m trusting to hear your voice and for you to tell me when to swing the bat and start running.
Saying, “Yes” hurts sometimes, but I’ve learned that growth – physical and spiritual – almost always hurts. When physical growth begins to hurt, there is nothing you can do to stop it – except wait it out. However, spiritual growth is different. When spiritual growth begins to hurt, you have the choice to stop the pain. If you choose to stop, you don’t see the benefits of the pain you encountered. BUT, if you continue to worship, pray, endure, and lean on Christ through the hard times…I can guarantee that you will see GOD USE YOU to produce fruit for His kingdom (and a you’ll see a smile on the Father’s face).
So even in the tough times, make it around the field. Your struggle may have 3 bases or 53 bases. I encourage you to say, “Yes”. Walk, jog, or run with Jesus along the way… I promise you’ll slide into home plate alive and revived. Also, striking out isn’t in God’s playbook.
P.S. – I hate baseball… I only go to baseball games for the hotdogs and Dippin’ Dots. I have no idea why this blog has a baseball theme to it. That was God’s plan, not mine.
Pictured below are Cara, Matt and I… J-Squad’s new SQL’s!
